According to the website, “Toronto is justly renowned for the cultural diversity of its cuisine” and 1000 Tastes would offer “a unique opportunity to sample some of the very best gourmet delicacies prepared by the city’s finest chefs.” Entrance was free and each item/ plate was priced at $5. Not a cheap sampling event but, it turns out, a cheap meal since all of the servings were extremely generous. I was fortunate enough to meet up with a bunch of my foodie friends to peruse the selections and share the humungous-sized samples – on my own, I would have had room for one single tasting. Note to the organisers – next year, why not consider having $3 tickets for real tasting-sized portions?

I mean, really – that’s a tasting plate??

In any case it was a bounty of deliciousness and we had to scope out the entire row of vendors to figure out a) what we wanted to eat and b) how many tickets we needed. We each bought four but could all have probably done with three. I ended up buying some of this awesome shortbread from The Sweet Escape for the admin staff at my school who are still working, even though classes are done.

This was delicious though I ate most of the filling, leaving most of the (fabulous but oh so big) bun. It could also have done with a little more of those pickled onions.

The Local Kitchen and Wine Bar 1710 Queen Street West Toronto, ON (416) 534-6700

Next up, a few of us shared this combo plate:

This was really tasty but OMG – a meal!! Also that hot sauce – beware! It was deadly. The flier these guys were handing out promised food like this for very reasonable prices and if I lived in the neighbourhood (it’s on the other side of the city), I would probably be a frequent diner there.

This was a very fun event and I am glad I have now finally made it to one. I really liked the leafy green location of Queen’s Park because it made it very family-friendly and a great place to meet up with the large group of friends you are going to need to get through all the samples!

Next year, I will be back. With a big group of friends and a plan of action. And an empty stomach!

Great post and pictures! Although I wasn’t there, I agree that they should have smaller sample plates…those portions look crazy huge! I’m sad that I missed out =( Need to check it out next year for sure.

Hi Mardi – now that’s a fun place to be with a camera! I was disappointed to hear about the so-so cheeseburger spring rolls. That sounded so good! I think I want to try a fresh version of that, with rice paper, not fried…
Glad you had a good time! YAY for summer!
LL

Those look delicious – the steak and cheese – yumm! And the tortillas. I’m suddenly quite hungry for dinner.
Always makes me wonder whether I should have opened my own restaurant…
Too bad I did not make it to come and taste this year, but business is business. I’ll have to put the next year’s event into my calendar, if they repeat it!
Bon appetit!
– Lorne

Wow, that is comprehensive coverage of that event! I wonder what you thought of the ice cream flavours? Oh I love and miss Young Thailand! Those tickets are a great deal. The Seafood Fest here you paid $2 for a tiny scallop!

What an amazing sampling! Huge portions for a tasting, I totally don’t blame you for not eating the whole bun from your porchetta sandwich… there would have no more room left for the rest of the goodies.

Each amazing blog post extends my next visit by an hour………Mardi and Mr Neil, reckon I’m stopping for at least a month time, forget Ikea and Canadian Tyre, it’s going to be food a go-go (and maybe a wee Corona visit)!! Cleo Cat will be ecstatic.

My, oh, my, that looks like a LOT of fun. (That’s exactly like the food fest I was going to take you to in NY, if the date had been right). And next time, if you get Phin and myself for company, you’d never have to complain about the portions being too big. And funny, I don’t think that’s a complaint I’ve ever made. Yum.

That food is amazing! I can’t believe it’s all in one place. What a wonderful day! I’ve had this page open two days because I can’t stop scrolling through the scrumptious photos. Obviously I’m into self torture. 😉